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Unfortunately for them, the reward for almost doing something is nothing.

No W. No points. No escape from the dark cloud that followed them east from Edmonton five days ago.

Playing their second road game in as many nights against a Cup contender playing on two days’ rest, the Oilers gave Pittsburgh all it could handle. Pittsburgh did handle it, though, breaking open a 2-2 game on Evgeni Malkin’s power-play game winner with 12:40 left in the third period.

“I think we battled hard and did a lot of good things, and Barbs (Jason LaBarbera) played great, gave us a chance to be in the game, but in the end its not enough,” said winger Ales Hemsky, after another valiant and hard-fought effort came up short.

“You have to find a way to win games. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Pittsburgh Penguins or somebody else.

“You have to find a way to win the tight games. We should have won a lot of games we could have (earlier in the season) and didn’t and it’s hurting us now, it looks bad on us. But we battled hard and we had a goalie today, too.”

This one had the potential to get ugly, with one of the most potent teams in the NHL hosting a club that gave up 29 goals in its first six starts, but it was 2-2 after 40.

All that really matters, though, is that it was 3-2 after 60.

“It’s such a fine line between winning and losing in this league,” said Edmonton winger Jordan Eberle. “That’s a good team over there and for the most part we were right there. They kind of got a lucky goal on a broken play and that was the game. There’s little things we can correct, but there’s so much good in our game right now that when we start winning, they’re going to come in bunches.”

Right now it’s the losses that are raining down on them. The Oilers are 1-5-1 and 0-3 at the halfway mark of their road trip, with dates left against the New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens.

“We’re playing well, we’re sticking with teams that have a lot of skill,” said Taylor Hall, who’s convinced that things are going to get better, and soon. “People who truly understand the game and watch closely will see that this is a group that is competing a lot harder than in years past. It’s a really tough start to the year, you never want to be 1-5-1 in the first seven, but it’s a long year and we just have to stay the course.”

The Oilers started Tuesday’s game like everyone expected they would — on their heels. They were outshot 15-4 in the first period and should have been dead and buried by the first intermission, but goaltender Jason LaBarbera kept them in it, giving up only Pascal Dupuis’ goal at 3:09.

Edmonton had the better of things in the second, scoring twice on goals from Eberle and Hemsky to set up the third-period coin toss, where a lucky Pittsburgh break broke the tie.

“It’s a terrible feeling,” said head coach Dallas Eakins. “Everything’s going all right for us, and it’s a fanned shot that goes right to the most dangerous guy on the ice. The hockey gods aren’t lined up with us right now. We’ll do an exorcism and see if they’ll grant us a little more leeway.”

That this year’s team didn’t take a knee when the going got tough is a good sign, though. They’ll have to settle for that in lieu of points.

“I love that our guys were in the fight,” said Eakins. “I like that our guys weren’t shying away from the adversity. With everything we’ve gone through here, we’ve lost a number in a row, it would be easy to come into this building and mail it in, but they didn’t do that. They dug their heels in and pushed back.”

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ROBERT.TYCHKOWSKI@Sunmedia.ca

GAME REVIEW

GAME GRADES

OVERALL: B

Offence: C

Defence: C

Goaltending: B

Power Play: C

Penalty Kill: C

Toughness: B

Effort: A

THREE STARS

1. Sidney Crosby, PITT

Had three assists and took 20 of the game’s 50 faceoffs.

2. Pascal Dupuis, PITT

Opens the scoring, adds an assist and finishes plus 2.

3. Jordan Eberle, EDM

A lot of jump on a game high 29 shifts. Scores a goal.

WHY THEY LOST

Because Pittsburgh knows how to win a close game at home. The Pens went up 3-2 in the third period and locked it down like a team that’s been in playoffs a few times.

TURNING POINT

Paul Martin fans on a one-timer and the puck takes a strange line, right to the waiting stick of a crease-side Evgeni Malkin, who had nothing but net to shoot at for the game winning goal.

SHUT OUT

Sidney Crosby still hasn’t scored a goal against the Oilers in five career games, but he still hurts them with frequent regularity. Assisted on all three Pittsburgh goals Tuesday night.

Oilers loss to Penguins is second defeat in back-to-back nights

Unfortunately for them, the reward for almost doing something is nothing.

No W. No points. No escape from the dark cloud that followed the sinking team east from Edmonton five days ago.

Playing their second road game in as many nights against a Cup contender playing on two days rest, the Oilers gave Pittsburgh all it could handle. Pittsburgh did handle it, through, breaking open a 2-2 game on Evgeni Malkin’s power play game winner with 12:40 left in the third period.

It was another valiant and hard-fought effort that came up short. The Oilers are 1-5-1 and 0-3 at the halfway mark of their road trip, with dates left against the New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens.

The Oilers, who thought they deserved better in Monday’s loss to Washington, deserved to be dead and buried after 20 minutes in Pittsburgh. They were out shot 15-3 in the first period but escaped with just a 1-0 defic

Also in this article

Photos; Edmonton Oilers versus Pittsburgh Penguins Oct. 15, 2013

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You’ve just played back-to-back games with late starts. You walk out of the arena and it’s miserable outside. And you have to catch an early flight the next morning … to Buffalo, for your fifth road trip in the last six weeks.